The invention relates to an elastomer connector for integrated circuits or similar, as well as the method of manufacturing such a connector.
Electric connectors already exist for integrated circuits or similar, which comprise an elastomer material support on which electro-conducting lines of small width are formed, for providing electrical connections between input/output conductors of integrated circuits, hybrid circuits, test, supply or control circuits, etc . . . For that it is sufficient for these connectors to be positioned correctly on or between the circuits to be connected together and for their conducting lines to be applied with pressure on the input/output conductors of these circuits.
Such connectors have a number of advantages with respect to conventional connectors: they offer a great density of conducting lines per unit of length, they may be used in a wide temperature range, they withstand shocks and vibrations, they may be fitted and removed a very large number of times without damage, and they withstand numerous chemical agents (the silicon based elastomers withstand in particular oxygen, ozone and ultra-violet rays). The flexible nature of the elastomer support also makes it possible to connect together circuits which are not exactly at the same level, by slight flexion of this support.
Known connectors of this type have however some disadvantages:
when the electro-conducting lines are formed by diffusion of carbon or silver in the elastomer of the support, they have a limited conductivity, and a width of at least 25 microns, PA1 when these electro-conducting lines are made by laminating a conducting grid (copper, gold, etc . . . ) on the elastomer support, they have good conductivity but their width is at least 100 microns, PA1 they only have a single level of conducting lines, PA1 the methods of manufacturing them may be relatively complex and expensive, particularly when these connectors are formed of a stack of thin layers alternately respectively conducting and insulating, which may have each a thickness of about 50 microns.
The purpose of the invention is in particular to palliate these different disadvantages of prior known connectors.
For this it provides an electric connector of the above type, comprising an elastomer support on which the electro-conducting lines of small width are formed, in which the lines may have excellent electric conductivity with widths which may be reduced to a micron.
A further object of the invention is to provide a connector of this type, which has different superimposed levels of electro-conducting lines.
The invention also has as object a connector of this type which may be manufactured by a relatively simple and inexpensive method, employing proved techniques used up to now in micro-electronics for manufacturing integrated circuits and hybrid circuits for example.